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Sunday, June 05, 2011

The GOP Candidate Pool Settles In for a Race

While the popular banter within the press is whether or not Sarah Palin will jump in and run for President - she won't - I think Republicans, Tea Party conservatives and Independents all must settle down and stop the nonsense.

If I may make a suggestion - stop waiting for Godot. There is no Godot this time around. The field is set. Get over yourselves and start paying attention to those entering the race now. Start doing your own research and figure out who will earn your vote in the primary election.

There is plenty of time. It is going to be a long summer and the continuing news of our economic recovery is still quite dismal for Team Obama. There is a real possibility of making Obama a one-term President. Other than killing bin Laden, not much is going well for Barack Obama.

A friend of mine summers in New Hampshire. That has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? She is very active in Republican politics here in Houston and also there. Today I received an e-mail from her with her impressions so far of the Republican candidates. She has spoken with and attended gatherings with several of them so far this summer.

The first she wrote of was Newt Gingrich. Like me, she has come to the conclusion that his time has come and gone. He is still the smartest guy in the room but he is too cagey these days with not answering the questions he chooses to ignore and he doesn't inspire much enthusiasm.

The next was Jon Huntsman. She views him as the Dark Horse in the race. Sitting next to his wife at an event, she was impressed. "Strong speaker, articulates well, will hold his own in a debate and is extremely personable. He is broad-based in background: businessman, ex-governor, understands the value of a good foreign policy to set the U.S. apart from other countries." I remember when Huntsman was nominated to be Ambassador to China. I wrote at the time that this would round out all his other qualifications by getting the foreign policy experience and that Obama did it in hopes of squelching competition from him in 2012. I love that it is going to backfire on Team Obama. Huntsman will be real competition for Obama to worry about.

My friend has heard Tim Pawlenty speak in the past and looks forward to hearing him this summer. Many of her friends there are saying good things about him. They like that he is coming out swinging.

And last, Herman Cain. She heard Cain quite recently in Austin and knows he is impressive in his speeches. She, like me, however, is yet to be convinced of his foreign policy chops. You may remember recently during an interview on Fox News Cain didn't know what "right of return" was when questioned about it. That's a problem for me.

I am attending Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans later this month and am really looking forward to hearing from all the candidates.